The New York Times - November 6, 1985
Aljean Harmetz

But his illness and death, because it sharpened Hollywood's awareness of its own vulnerability, has triggered a reaction that has created new problems for the industry. Some in the industry now expect there will be a rethinking of the way sex is depicted in movies while others fear the possibility of severe discrimination against homosexual actors.

Reflecting these new concerns, the Directors Guild of America will discuss taking an official position on AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, at its national board meeting this month. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has informed its members in a letter that they "should and do have the right to refuse contact with anyone whom they believe may have any communicable disease." Since some institutions are now testing for AIDS, the federation also told members that "no company has the right to ask for blood tests as condition for employment."

The Screen Actors Guild added to the sense of alarm last week by calling open-mouthed kissing a possible health hazard and requiring actors to be told in advance if they will be asked to play such scenes.

Fear of Backlash

"I think there could be a purge against homosexuals," said the screenwriter William Goldman ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"). "A gay actor friend of mine who has lost 11 friends to AIDS says he is already feeling a backlash."

Joseph Morgenstern, a screenwriter and columnist, added: "Gay actors are absolutely terrified by this, in the depths of despair. It's only my speculation, but I think a de facto blacklist may well emerge."

The fear is that the spread of AIDS will lead to the public identification of homosexuals. Few homosexual producers, directors, high-level studio executives and writers have publicly announced their homosexuality. In fact, homosexual actors hide their true sexuality because they are under pressure to appear to be in real life the macho lovers that they portray on screen. Lesser-known actors are unlikely to be chosen by casting directors if they admit their homosexuality, according to Michael Kearns, one of the few openly homosexual actors in Hollywood.

"Often, they'll even wear wedding rings to auditions," said Chris Uszler, president of the Alliance of Gay and Lesbian Artists.

Nationally, homosexuals have accounted for more than 70 percent of the more than 14,000 known cases of AIDS. Federal authorities have identified homosexuals, intravenous drug users and hemophiliacs as the groups at highest risk of carrying the AIDS virus, which is spread through intimate sexual contact or the blood.

Hollywood's historical insecurity and sensitivity to political and social trends has caused the industry to react with panic frequently in the past. The inability of the silent-film star Fatty Arbuckle to get a job after being tried, and acquitted, for manslaughter, the restrictive production code of the 1930's and the political blacklist of the McCarthy era are the most obvious examples. In his book "Senator Joe McCarthy," Richard H. Rovere wrote that Hollywood was vulnerable to the Senator's accusations precisely because "Hollywood has always been a hotbed of conformity."

"The panic is because all of Hollywood is based on fantasy," said Mr. Goldman. "It's not just because an actor is hiding being gay. These gorgeous men and women are supposed to be perfect."

Gilbert Cates, president of the directors guild, said: "An actor who has AIDS or suspects he has AIDS has an obligation as an act of good citizenship not to do a kissing scene. No amount of legislation will deal with that problem."

Charlton Heston went further. "I think a member of that lovely euphenism - 'a high-risk group' - has an obligation to refuse to do kissing scenes."

Concern Over Love Scenes

Although not willing to be quoted, several important industry figures expressed dismay that Rock Hudson had played love scenes with Linda Evans on "Dynasty" after he knew he was ill.

But because refusing might disclose that he was homosexual, "It might be very difficult for a gay actor to refuse a part that required open-mouth kissing," said Mr. Uszler of the Gay Alliance.

The Screen Actors Guild has a clause in its contract that prohibits discrimination because of sexual preference. Some female members of the guild have expressed their concern about playing love scenes opposite gay actors because the AIDS virus has been discovered in saliva. There have been published reports that one actress in particular who plays opposite a gay actor on a primetime series has complained.

The new guild ruling attempted to prevent discrimination by not telling an actor or actress whom he or she was expected to kiss. The response has been that this is unworkable and unenforceable. "It's absurd," said Aaron Spelling, the producer of "Dynasty." "First you get a star, and then you get a leading lady. It's absurd to think you could keep Paul Newman or Tom Selleck a secret."

Although there is no documented case of the disease having been transmitted through kissing, medical experts have been unwilling to say that the disease can never be transmitted through the kinds of passionate, open-mouthed kisses that today's love scenes often require. Federal experts from the Centers for Disease Control have cautioned against intimate sexual contact, including kissing that involves the exchange of saliva, with members of the high-risk groups.

Mr. Uszler asks for a return to the "dry kissing" of the days of the motion picture industry's production code. That code, which was a frightened response in the 1930's to attacks on such screen sex symbols as Mae West, also forbade sexually tinged language and required married couples to keep one foot on the floor in any bedroom scenes.

TV Codes on Sex

Even if open-mouthed kissing were banned - at the present time the industry considers this an unlikely possibility - people here feel that movies and television would simply show sex in other ways.

According to Thomas Kersey, ABC's vice president of broadcast standards and practices on the West Coast, ABC's policies already forbid open-mouthed kissing. "We advise our producers that the French kiss is unacceptable," he said. "If we see a tongue flashing, we will edit it out."

The policies at NBC and CBS are less restrictive. "We simply make a judgment when a romantic situation gets excessive," said Ralph Daniels, vice president of broadcast standards at NBC. "We decide case by case," said George Schweitzer, vice president of communications for the CBS Broadcast Group.

"This whole thing is a tough call," said Dawn Steel, president of production at Paramount. "I think exciting sexuality is part of the fantasy, part of the entertainment of a love story. I would hope it won't be withdrawn."

A Los Angeles program to test blood samples for presence of AIDS virus antibodies, a sign of probable continuing infection with the virus, is too new to have come up with definitive statistics, according to Dr. Martin Finn, medical director for public health for the county of Los Angeles. Dr. Finn said, however, that in a men's study at the University of California at Los Angeles, in which homosexual participants were self-selected and thus worried about the possibility of AIDS, 54 percent tested positive for exposure to the virus.

Scientists presume that infected individuals, although healthy themselves, can pass the virus through sexual contact or transfers of blood.

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